President Donald Trump indicated in a Sunday interview that the United States military would “have to do something” if Iran does not accept a deal that prevents the country from developing a nuclear weapon. The 47th president also revealed that he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader.
During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump was asked about what kind of deal he wants to make with Iran.
“There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal,” Trump told Bartiromo. “I would prefer to make a deal because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people. I know so many Iranians from this country.”
While Trump said the Iranian people are “great people,” he clarified that the Iranian regime leaders are “very evil people.”
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” the president said. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily. But the time is happening now. The time is coming up. Something’s going to happen one way or the other.”
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During his interview with Fox News, Trump announced that he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging Iran’s leadership to negotiate a nuclear deal. “If we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” Trump said.
In response to a follow-up question from Bartiromo, Trump added, “I said I hope you’re going to negotiate because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran.”
Trump told Bartiromo that the “other alternative” is that the United States will “have to do something because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
According to NPR, Iranian state media reported that Khamenei addressed the Trump administration’s pressure on Iran on Saturday, saying, “The insistence of some bullying governments to negotiate is not to solve problems, but to impose their own expectations. The Islamic Republic of Iran will definitely not accept their expectations.”
In a Sunday post on X, formerly Twitter, Iran’s Mission to the United Nations tweeted, “If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-à-vis any potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration. However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama failed to achieve has now been accomplished, such negotiations will never take place.”
